- 6 solar PV manufacturers have announced an agreement over using a standardized silicon wafer size of 191.Xmm
- For 72-cell modules, they plan to use the rectangular wafer size of 182.2mm x 191.6mm with 262.5mm diagonal size
- The 6 companies are LONGi, Risen Energy, Canadian Solar, Tongwei Solar, DAS Solar and Astronergy
Leading solar PV manufacturing companies LONGi, Risen Energy, Canadian Solar, Tongwei Solar, DAS Solar and Astronergy have reached a consensus to use a standardized rectangular silicon wafer size of 191.Xmm for 72-cell modules.
After ‘comprehensive communication and evaluation’, these companies have now agreed upon the rectangular wafer size of 182.2mm x 191.6mm with 262.5mm rectangular wafer size diagonally.
In a joint statement, the 6 companies declared that this consensus will further solve the difficulties in the supply of silicon wafers in the industrial chain and increase in material costs caused by size differences by various manufacturers.
They now collectively endorse and advocate the use of this standardized size by more companies in the industry.
This follows the July 2023 unanimous agreement over 2,382mm x 1,134mm rectangular silicon wafer size reached by the above mentioned 6 companies along with JA Solar, Trina Solar and Jinko Solar (see Standardized PV Panel Size Gets Unanimous Votes).
Not too long back, manufacturers were opting for various wafer sizes claiming higher output and efficiency for their products. It led to challenges with costs, logistics, transportation, installation and design of solar installations.
Realizing the chaos it was leading to, these leading solar manufacturers are now advocating a standard size, something that JinkoSolar shared during the TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on Global PV System Technology Trends H1/2023 (see Review: Day 2—TaiyangNews Global PV System Technology Trends H1/2023 Conference).
